Writing satire takes a skillful hand. You don't want the audience to feel as if they are being preached to; you want them to figure out your point for themselves. A satire doesn't have to be political, but it does have to have purpose. You want to shine a light on an issue that is important to you. You want that light to illuminate the flaws of society and make people think.

Satire in Film

There have been some amazing film satires that have made a real difference in the way people see things, including:

• Charlie Chaplin's 1940 indictment of Adolph Hitler, The Great Dictator, satirized the Nazi leader at a time when many Americans were against being drawn into the war in Europe. It was Chaplin's most commercially successful film.

• Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) called out the Cold War mentality of the time.

• Network (1976) was director Sidney Lumet's prophetic vision of the corporatization of network news.

• Jason Reitman's Thank You For Smoking (2006) is a darkly comedic expose on the practices and politics of big tobacco.

Television Satire

In recent years, satire on television has been dominated by two genres: animation and fake news. Some notable examples include:

• The Simpsons began in 1989 and has never stopped being a perfect satire of every aspect of modern life — and of television itself. The residents of Springfield have never been afraid to deal with the touchy subjects of religion and politics, with hilarious results every time.

• When South Park debuted in 1997, some critics and the press quickly dismissed it as having nothing but shock value, but it has grown into one of the most biting satires in the history of television. Nothing is safe from the wrath of four foul-mouthed third graders and highly reactive townsfolk from the fictional town of South Park, Colorado.

• The Daily Show premiered in 1996, but didn't hit its stride until Jon Stewart took the reins in 1999. The show has evolved into a true force to be reckoned with. More than just a comedy show, it is a thoughtful and carefully researched news show — with an attitude. Lots of people (mostly students and twenty-somethings) get the bulk of their news from The Daily Show.

  Politicians take the show very seriously and make regular appearances. While it is not a total satire, it does have satirical segments. Some of the most successful involve just letting guests talk, showing how foolish their arguments can be.

• The Colbert Report, a spin-off of The Daily Show, is satire at its best. Its host, Stephen Colbert, plays an ultraconservative personality who doesn't let the facts get in the way of an uneducated opinion. The writing on this show is sharp, funny, and devastating to anyone who's “on notice” or “dead to Stephen.”